Ray Bradbury

[TheDustyZebra]

Hmm...reviving a nearly-dead thread, here. I have a horrible memory, which is why I can read the same books over and over again. Because of that, I don't really remember much of Bradbury, it having been a while since I read any of his books except one. However, I do remember that Something Wicked This Way Comes is one of the best books ever, and a bunch of the others you guys have mentioned are right up there. On the other hand, I recently re-read Fahrenheit 451 and was sadly disappointed. I did not find it to be nearly the book it has always been hyped to be. I don't recall if I thought that the first time I read it or not. Oh well, it might just be me. He certainly has a lot of far better books and stories, so it doesn't worry me too much.

 

[clovis-man]

However, I do remember that Something Wicked This Way Comes is one of the best books ever, and a bunch of the others you guys have mentioned are right up there. On the other hand, I recently re-read Fahrenheit 451 and was sadly disappointed. I did not find it to be nearly the book it has always been hyped to be. I don't recall if I thought that the first time I read it or not. Oh well, it might just be me. He certainly has a lot of far better books and stories, so it doesn't worry me too much.

Bradbury has been mostly about short stories. Novels are a rarity. Even Something Wicked This Way Comes didn't start out as a novel, but a screenplay, IIRC.

He also wrote the screenplay for Moby Dick. The story goes that when John Huston saw The Beast From 20,00 Fathoms (another Bradbury screenplay), he immediately asked Bradbury to write the Moby Dick screenplay, apparently based on the fact that the SF movie had to do with a large monster and that Moby Dick was also a large monster.

And I've always liked the screenplay he did for the film It Came From Outer Space. Oddly even this creature feature contains some of those poetic moments that he has always seemed to be able to generate.

 

[Connavar]

The October County is my first book/collection of Bradbury and for stories from 40s,50s they have aged well. They are haunting stories,the best one are brilliant,have nice human emotion to them. You feel for the people the stories is about.



Speaking about Bradbury how is his SF collections ? Not the classic The Martian Chronicles but i was wondering about R is for Rocket,S is For Space.

I wanted to try that side of him plus those collections sound very different for SF stories.Also i have read mostly his quality fantasies in urban settings,earth so far.

 

[Rodders]

A slight distraction from the topic at hand, but after getting some of older Science Fiction classics on DVD last week, i keep thinking of getting the Martian Chronicles. I remember being blown away by this as a child and was quite disturbed at watching the Eartch nuclear annihilation.

 

[j d worthington]

Connavar: simply put -- they are wonderful! They are an example of how broad "sf" was at the time, which means they frequently blend into fantasy, horror, all sorts of other things. As for the writing... Bradbury's magic is very strong there, indeed. These were the ones I first encountered when I was a lad, and I've been hooked ever since....

Rodders... that television production of The Martian Chronicles has its moments, but it really isn't very good overall. Which is a pity: fairly good production values, an excellent cast, and some of the best original material one could hope for... and they managed to blow it, nonetheless....

 

[littlemissattitude]

He also wrote the screenplay for Moby Dick. The story goes that when John Huston saw The Beast From 20,00 Fathoms (another Bradbury screenplay), he immediately asked Bradbury to write the Moby Dick screenplay, apparently based on the fact that the SF movie had to do with a large monster and that Moby Dick was also a large monster.

I heard Bradbury tell the story of his writing the screenplay for Moby Dick and some of his experiences with John Huston when he spoke at LosCon one year.

I'm looking forward to the Bradbury day at Fresno State next month, tied in with the selection of Fahrenheit 451 as the Big Read book for the year. Bradbury won't be there, but the day is scheduled to end up with a video conference with him. Some other writers are scheduled to be there, including Greg Bear. It should be an interesting day.

Also in connection with the Big Read, they've scheduled a marathon read of the book on March 4, starting at 4:51 a.m. and ending at 4:51 p.m., to be held at the Fresno Fire Department Museum. Very clever. I've got to check into registering to participate in the read, just because it sounds like fun.

 

[GOLLUM]

Wow! That sounds great Littlemiss! I wish you a fun-filled extravaganza...

I look forward to reading about your impressions of the event.

 

[Fried Egg]

"R is for Rocket" contains one of my favourite Bradbury stories, "Frost and Fire". A fascinating story about a rocket ship with passangers crash lands on Mercury and what happens to them there.

 

[Connavar]

Connavar: simply put -- they are wonderful! They are an example of how broad "sf" was at the time, which means they frequently blend into fantasy, horror, all sorts of other things. As for the writing... Bradbury's magic is very strong there, indeed. These were the ones I first encountered when I was a lad, and I've been hooked ever since....

Bradbury's magic impressed me in the best stories of The October County, i didnt even know he wrote horror,weird stories.

Thats why i asked about his SF, they sounded different.

I will go for R is for Rocket collection,stories. Since its out of print i have to see if any of the many Best of collections has those stories in them.

 

[Fried Egg]

What I would like to know is whether there's a good way of collecting his stories? I've noticed that many of the collections overlap considerably.

 

[clovis-man]

I heard Bradbury tell the story of his writing the screenplay for Moby Dick and some of his experiences with John Huston when he spoke at LosCon one year.

I'm looking forward to the Bradbury day at Fresno State next month, tied in with the selection of Fahrenheit 451 as the Big Read book for the year. Bradbury won't be there, but the day is scheduled to end up with a video conference with him. Some other writers are scheduled to be there, including Greg Bear. It should be an interesting day.

Also in connection with the Big Read, they've scheduled a marathon read of the book on March 4, starting at 4:51 a.m. and ending at 4:51 p.m., to be held at the Fresno Fire Department Museum. Very clever. I've got to check into registering to participate in the read, just because it sounds like fun.

I hadn't heard about this. Great idea and a fitting tribute. I heard him tell the John Huston story at Fresno State some years ago. And he does a great voice imitation of Huston!

 

[j d worthington]

What I would like to know is whether there's a good way of collecting his stories? I've noticed that many of the collections overlap considerably.

While The Stories of Ray Bradbury does not collect all of his short stories (some of the odd pieces from Dark Carnival, for instance, are missing), it does contain a large percentage of them. You might try that one....

 

[Fried Egg]

I've got an old paperback from the early 80's called "The stories of Ray Bradbury: Volume 2"...I wonder how many volumes there were...

 

[j d worthington]

I don't know how many paperbacks, but there was a one-volume hardbound edition (later revised and expanded to include new tales, iirc). There's also Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales, which is available in softcover at $12.95 US (new).

Again, though, the man has been writing since the early-to-mid-1940s, so I don't think there's any single volume (or multi-volume) set which will include all his short stories. And part of the reason for the overlap in earlier collections is simply that they'd go out of print, and certain stories would still be in demand, or linked by theme or atmosphere or some other factor, and therefore included in newer collections. So when those earlier collections were brought back out, you ended up with a notable amount of reproduction. Nothing like, say, Vonnegut's Canary in a Cat House/Welcome to the Monkey House, where the difference is only a couple of stories, but a noticeable amount nonetheless.

 

[GOLLUM]

Actually there's a 2 volume collection of Bradbury Stories simply called Ray Bradbury Stories Vols 1 and 2 here that contain a good selection of his best short fiction, which when he's on song represents some of the best fiction you are likely to come across in the Genre. I don't have those 2 volumes, although I pass them all the time in various bookshops here. Together they cover 100 stories, so it could well be the same or similar to the single volume Mr. Worthington is referencing.

 

[Connavar]

Classic Stories 1: The Golden Apples of the Sun & R Is for Rocket

i saw in amazon and it looks perfect for me. It had 16 of 17 stories that was in the original R Is for Rocket.

I like reading like that more than 100 random stories. Now its a themed stories,maybe even stories that belong to each other like Melling town stories in The October Country.

 

[j d worthington]

No, these aren't really thematically linked; they are simply collections of some of his classic sff stories from earlier in his career....

 

[Connavar]

No, these aren't really thematically linked; they are simply collections of some of his classic sff stories from earlier in his career....

Yeah i saw that by the title of the stories,what they are about.

I meant reading similar stories SF or fantasy will feel like reading a book instead of reading a collection with few of his best stories.

Specially for a guy that wrote mostly short stories and not many novels.

I saw Stories of Bradbury vol 1,vol 2 that looked more interesting than the 100 stories collection of his. But i couldnt find contents table for those two volumes.

 

[GOLLUM]

I saw Stories of Bradbury vol 1,vol 2 that looked more interesting than the 100 stories collection of his. But i couldnt find contents table for those two volumes.

That could well be the same collection I posted about.

Currently links to T.O.C are crashing my browser, so hopefully someone else can post.

 

[steve12553]

I started reading Ray Bradbury when a classmate in fourth grade presented a book report to the class about the Martian Chronicles. I was fasinated and had to find it on my next trip to the public library. From where I sit right now I can see a copy of it, along with R is for Rocket, Fahrenheit 451, The Illustrated Man and a short story collection with a title too small to read from here. Great stuff. Kinda folksy. Not always great science but always great fiction.